Buzzing in toe and short leg?

Hi all,

I have been having some trouble with the left side of my hip, leg and foot.

It started two weeks ago when I went to bed and noticed some buzzing (not really tingling; buzzing) on the lateral side of my fourth toe on my left foot. The bussing isn't painful, just really annoying.

Over the next two weeks, I started noticing that it felt like my left leg was a lot longer than my right. I started to get pain in my left leg and the left side of my hips and low back over these two weeks.

I went to a chiropractor yesterday who examined me. She said my spine itself is fine (no slipped discs) but that I do have a slightly flatter arch on my left foot. She also noticed the leg-length discrepancy. After doing some soft tissue work and some adjustments, she measured my legs again and they both lined up perfectly.

Walking home after the chiropractor that night, I noticed it felt like both my legs were hitting the ground at the same length. All last night I felt good, but today when I went cycling, it felt again that my left leg was longer than my right and the buzzing on the lateral side of my fourth toe was back.

So, I clearly have some work to do here. But I have some questions that I hope some of you may be able to answer:

1. If it feels like my left leg is longer, that means that my right leg must have more muscle tightness that is causing the hip to rotate and thus making it look shorter. If this is so, how come all the pain is on my left side (the non-short side)? I would expect the pain to be on the short leg side (my right).

2. I'm sure chiropractic will help, but should I also be doing stretching and rehabilitation exercises? If so, which ones? Should I be stretching and strengthening both sides or just the short side? If anyone has links to the exercises it would be a great help.

3. How long should it take to return to normal function?

4. Does anyone know what that annoying buzzing in my fourth toe could be?

Everybody on this board seems really great and knowledgeable. I would appreciate any feedback you could give me!

If this helps, I'm including some physical stats about me:

Male, age 31. Lost 50 pounds in the last eight months. Still have another 40 to lose. I have a large frame. I'm six feet tall. My current weight is 235 pounds.

Exercise: walk three hours a day, six days a week. (two hours of exercise-walking, one hour of regular commuting). I cycle about an hour a day. I work out at home for 90 minutes three days a week (crunches, planks, pushups, etc.)

Thanks everyone! I look forward to any replies!

Mike

Firstly, just because a health professional says your back is fine, doesnt always mean that is the case, people make mistakes, Im not saying your chiro has, but it is a possibility. Secondly, there are numerous reasons why one leg could be or feel longer than the other, its not just about the musculature. The parasthesia in your toe sounds neural, for some reason nerve root pathology tends to present first in the periphery, the fact that it started in your toe and has moved up to your lower back makes me think that the problem may be in your lower back. If you dont get any results from your current treatment plan, try someone or something else. Different modalities and even clinicians within the modalities see things and attack things differently, so getting a fresh view on your condition might help.